Saturday, June 7 will mark the 15th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Dyke March, an institution that began formally in 2006. The stories of queer women, lesbians, dykes organizing in Pittsburgh stretch much further back. Be sure to check out our timeline and watch the Pgh Dyke March spaces for dyke history.
This year’s dyke march caretakers took time to answer questions. Their emphasis on trans dykes is important as is their care for dikes with disabilities or who need accommodations. They’ve hosted multiple events for planning purposes and have a great idea for a post-march event this year.
This is an important event for me and for the community. I realize that I probably cannot attend because I don’t have a buddy to go with me. The friends who typically would have other commitments. And beyond just feeling sorry for myself, I realize how I’ve lost touch with important parts of my own identity. I’m not sure how that happened. Maybe similar things happened for you and this is a chance – both reading the Q&A and attending the march – to remind yourself of your dyke values.
Be smart and safe. Be strong and supple. Be there.
If someone can grab me a 2x tee shirt and a zine, I’ll hit up your CashApp or Venmo.
Your Names: Emily, Eva, Cam, Surya
We spoke last year so I’m building on that. You may want to review it. https://www.pghlesbian.com/2024/07/a-qa-with-the-2024-pittsburgh-dyke-march-organizers/
Last year was the ‘return’ of the Pittsburgh Dyke March after a hiatus since 2019. Tell us about what’s been happening since then?
We are a collective of Dykes that saw how amazing the previous Dyke Marches from Pittsburgh and around the country like Boston and New York were and wanted to continue on that legacy. Lesbian/Dyke centered spaces have been dwindling but the need for them is ever-growing. This iteration of the PGH Dyke March started with a couple Dykes (possibly flirting on Lex, but we will neither confirm nor deny that story…) who wanted a Dyke March and therefore made one. Since the last march, we have been reflecting on our work from last year, discussing what we did well and what we can improve on. Several Dyke/activist groups in Pittsburgh have come to us with feedback from last year’s march. We are eternally grateful for the way our community wants to help us improve. We are simply a group of volunteers. We encourage anyone with ideas or feedback to join us at meetings to help out and make decisions. It takes a lot of effort and care to help people learn, and we want this year’s march to honor the effort others have put into us.
Many things have changed since last year’s march, both politically and socially, but our dedication to coming together as a Dyke community has only grown. This year, we are rallying in support of Trans Dykes who are the pillars and founders of our community and who we must do nothing less than fight for.
Last year you said that “The lessons we brought (to our local march) are: More planning, network, connections, community.” How did those lessons manifest this year?
This year, we tried to keep in mind that a march of this size and reach needs a lot of time to be planned. We have been meeting since January for this year’s march and feel much more prepared. We saw how a march can bring a community together. However, by their nature, marches do not facilitate actual community conversation. That is why we are hosting a community bash at the march ending point, so after people march, they have the time and space to connect.
We also could not have done any of this without the time, resources, and kindness from the community. Dykes and Non-Dykes alike have welcomed us with open arms and we will never be able to thank them enough. Every time we have been critiqued, it has always been in good faith and with the hope of showing us how to improve the march. We have definitely still made mistakes, but we have also learned so much and hope to improve the march with each subsequent year as our collective experience grows. Again, we encourage everyone with ideas and critiques to come get involved at the planning sessions.
What changes can we look forward to this year?
New location! New merch! After party! After after party! No stopping every block during the march (sorry about that)! Check out our Instagram/facebook @Pghdykemarch for more details.
Stand up for trans liberation and dyke futures in Pittsburgh. There’s a battle for survival in regards to trans healthcare. What other battles are necessary in Pittsburgh to ensure trans liberation?
We as a collective are dedicated to the fight for liberation. Trans healthcare and abortion rights are the fight for bodily autonomy. Queer liberation is nothing without the fight for Black liberation. Land Back also means we fight for Indigenous peoples around the globe. None of these fights look exactly the same, but they are all the result of taking power away from the people.
Trans liberation means that we fight for access to gender affirming healthcare while defending Trans people with no desire to medically transition. We cannot fight for Trans Dykes without fighting for Black Trans people. Black Trans people are more likely to experience homelessness than any other Queer identity, so this is a fight for access to food and housing. All Trans people deserve to live without the fear of being outed by their IDs. All Trans people deserve to exist in public without having to pre-plan the safest bathroom option. Prisons should never exist and the abuse that Trans people face while incarcerated bolsters that point. There is no one answer to Trans liberation, but the fight is always for collective liberation.
Has Pennsylvania elected a dyke or dyke ally to political office? If so, whom and how?
The Dyke March is not a group that organizes around electoral politics and whether or not an individual elected official happens to identify as a Dyke isn’t relevant to us. Dyke is, in part, a political identity, a commitment to radical Queer liberation and solidarity with all marginalized people no matter the axis of oppression. Historically, such a radical commitment to equality has been incompatible with the sacrifices required to “work within the system” as an elected official. This is not to say that it’s categorically impossible, simply that history has borne us no such examples.
Electoralism has a role in codifying right into protective laws, but as the current events have shown us, in a culture of open bigotry those laws are as fragile as the paper they’re written on. We don’t dream of better laws, we dream of a better society. We strive for a world unmoored from the tethers of patriarchy, heteronormativity, and cissexism. In bringing together Dykes from all walks of life to march and celebrate together, we hope to take one step towards bringing about that world.
Also, while we’re here- fuck John Fetterman. His “allyship” is nothing but a political tool he uses to get ahead.
Can you name some high profile dykes in Pittsburgh, historical or current, and why you see them thru that lens?
Again, we hesitate to give anyone the label of Dyke without their self-identification as such, but there are a few prominent figures in the local lesbian/sapphic/Dyke/etc scene who have put the work in to create Dyke spaces. DJ HUNY XO is one such figure, curating and producing events via the Mostbeautifullest collective. Events such as SZR and Cherry Bomb have broken new ground for our community, especially due to their centering of Black people and other POC. HUNY also has a team of POC Dykes from Go-Go dancers to bartenders and ensures that every space the Mostbeautifullest collective enters is a space that is for POC Dykes by POC Dykes.
You are collaborating on documenting the history of queer women organizing in Pittsburgh, at least as far back as the 70s. It’s a passion of mine and I’d live to learn why you think it matters.
It is inherently valuable to document history, especially histories that are often ignored or lost. Beyond that, there’s so much to learn from the mistakes and victories of the past. Which tactics worked? Which didn’t? Why? How has the world changed? The documentation of these histories can also have immense personal value to younger Queer people. We don’t have many elders, so preserving and uplifting the stories of those who survived is extremely worthwhile.
How will you be curating and making this content accessible to others?
The Dyke March is publishing a zine this year, which we will be passing out for free at the march. We are also planning on posting a version of this zine to our instagram (@pghdykemarch). We hope that, with the support of our community, our archival efforts will continue to expand.
The March will be more accessible this year. Tell us about the practical changes as well as the underlying reasons.
Many of the core tenants of this march are rooted in centering marginalized peoples, and so we are striving to ensure people of all abilities feel welcomed and wanted in our march. We understand that a march is inherently inaccessible to some people because of mobility differences, but we welcome those individuals to join us at the end for Dyke Bash so they can still be involved in community-building even if they do not want to or cannot march. We are a masked event and will be providing masks and earplugs to anyone who wants them. Our route is accessible to mobility aids and we ask that anyone who moves slower for any reason (mobility aid, strollers, age, etc.) come to the front of the march and set the pace. We want to ensure that the entire march is moving at a speed that is good for all. We have accessible porta potties at both the start and end of the march. We are also happy to offer rides to people who are concerned about getting back to their cars/bus stops after the march concludes. Please feel free to reach out to the instagram or email (pghdykemarch@gmail.com) with other accessibility concerns!
Along that line, I’ve had a few friends express hesitation about not being ‘radical’ enough for this march. How do you make those queer women feel welcome and supported? Note – I fielded these questions back in the 2000’s when the March began.
We want everyone who wants to march for Dyke/Queer rights to join us. The Dyke March’s politics are inherently radical. This action intends to center marginalized peoples, fight for the rights of the oppressed, and welcome all who support these ideals. While the Dyke March is more radical than, say, corporation-sponsored pride events, a march is still meant to reclaim space for The People. We would never be upset with people showing up who want to support Dykes but may not know everything about radical politics. We care about welcoming people who feel moved to action for the Dyke cause, and together we can learn how to be better in our community. We want the Dyke March to be a space where all kinds of Dykes feel welcomed and supported which is partially why we added the ending Dyke Bash. We want to foster solidarity in the Dyke community and learn how to help each other better. We are not perfect radicals, so we don’t expect you to be either; we want to learn together. If you are interested in growing politically, this march is a great first step.
Some marches have taken a hard line that Zionists cannot participate. So they’ve been decried as anti-Semetic. In a town (and queer community) with a lot of Jewish folx. Please explain how organizers navigate that reality.
The PGH Dyke March is strongly rooted in its support of oppressed peoples and specifically in the fight for liberation in Palestine. Our organizing group consists of many Jewish Dykes, and collectively we do not see how Zionism could ever support our core tenant of fighting for Indigenous rights. We do not and will not entertain conversation that conflates Judaism with Zionism. This implication is a disservice to the Jewish folx who have participated in and helped organize the Dyke March. Judaism has a long history of fighting oppression and we welcome all Jewish Dykes who believe in the collective fight for liberation to join us in the Dyke March.
Freeing Palestine is one of your battle cries. What is it about the experiences of Palestinians that resonates with dyke identities?
The people of Palestine are treated as less than human by the military forces that occupy their land, the western press that covers their struggle, and the apathetic citizens of the countries that fund the IDF. It would be foolish to act like the oppression of Queer people in the west reaches the level of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Our goal here in the west is to tear down the governments and flow of money that allow a world where people are being openly murdered without consequence.
Beyond that, LGBTQ people always have and always will live in Palestine. There are many ways in which the fight for Palestinian rights is a Dyke cause, even as simply as the fact that there are Dykes in Palestine. So many children are murdered in Palestine long before they had the chance to learn that they are Queer. Some Zionists justify their horrific use of violence by arguing that the people of Palestine are particularly homophobic. This is not true and has also never been a reason to justify a genocide. Queer people are killed in homophobic acts of violence every day in america Those perpetrators rarely face legal repercussions and are certainly not put to death. It is our responsibility as Queer people to fight against the genocide supposedly perpetrated in our name. Every struggle for liberation is valuable in and of itself, and every struggle for liberation has a butterfly effect on all others.
What conversations and dialogues does the Dyke March bring to the celebration of Pride that might not be taking place at other events?
We believe Pride should not be an event that is put on by a corporation but rather a time to take action that supports Queer liberation. Pride is for the community and Pride is for the Dykes.
We’ve noticed that Pittsburgh Pride events, especially the large yearly pride event, tend to be apolitical. We’ve seen at least one person wearing the flag of “Israel” as a cape and way too many rainbow american flags. We’ve seen Pride events turn into a mass of booths selling drop-shipped necklaces for forty bucks.
We understand that many LGBTQ people have various political beliefs and worldviews, but abandoning our radical history for a shiny, pinkwashed, glamorous event will only make it worse in the long run. Beyond that, Dykes are often an afterthought in more corporate pride events. We hope that by centering Dykes in this march, we will be able to strengthen an overlooked community.
I’ve curated a list of over 60 Pride festivals throughout Pennsylvania and the tri-state area. So far I’ve identified only two such events that are not being organized in 2025. What other Dyke Marches are drivable from Pittsburgh? If a smaller town in PA wanted to organize, would you consult with them?
We would love to help support more Dykes putting on a march! The closest other Dyke Marches are in Buffalo, NY; New York City; and Washington, DC. The easiest way to contact us is by sending us an email (pghdykemarch@gmail.com) or DMing our Instagram.
This march is one of the most radical and high profile events during Pride in Pittsburgh. Do you expect ICE or other agents of oppression to turn out?
We can never fully know what agents of oppression are going to do at a protest. The best answer we have is: 1) assume this is always a risk and 2) remember to keep each other safe. Regardless of which state agency is there, we never talk to cops.
What is your safety advice for participants?
Bring a buddy, a mask, some water, a light snack, any medications you might need (like an epipen or other rescue meds), and stay alert during the march! Let someone you trust know that you will be at the Dyke March. If you need medical assistance, know that medics will be on site ready to help. And as always, if the cops try to talk to you, the only words you need to know are “Fifth Amendment.”
Tell us about your before and after events.
The march is on June 7th at 6pm with a Dyke Bash at the end location that will go until 10pm. Mary’s (on Penn Ave in Bloomfield) is hosting an after party that will start at 10 and go until the Bar closes. Keep an eye out for more events the Dyke March might host later in the year!
Where can readers get a Dyke March tee shirt? Do you have a wide range of sizes?
The t-shirts and hankies will be sold at the concluding Dyke Bash! The sizes range from XS-5XL. Each and every one is screen printed by hand by local Dykes on sustainably sourced tees so get them while you still can!
How can people support the March either financially or with in-kind donations?
People can donate directly to our Venmo @pghdykemarch or buy our merch at the Dyke Bash after the march. For in-kind donations, please reach out on Instagram @pghdykemarch.
What would DEI stand for in a Dyke March?
DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. This has a variety of meanings in corporate and professional settings, but to us it relates back to our commitment to all Dykes being welcome at the march. It is critical to us that we not only are inclusive of but center POC Dykes, Trans Dykes, disabled Dykes, and all those who are marginalized by our capitalist, cisheteropatriarchal society. We aim to provide resources at the march that will allow everyone to participate. Beyond the march, our organizing is done entirely in open community meetings where everyone has an equal voice, and we aim to provide as much accommodation as possible to allow anyone to join. We are entirely volunteer based and limited by our own capacities, so we ask that anyone interested and able join us!
What is your love song to trans and queer youth?
Our love song to Trans and Queer youth is the line of dykes stretching down the block to get into Blue Moon on a cool spring night. We’re building this community for them.
Thank you!
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